Building bridges to a successful career in aviation

It may not seem like the most obvious way of appraising character but it’s amazing what you can discover with spaghetti and marshmallows.

Aviation and Airport Management students were handed pasta and sweets and asked to build a bridge at the start of an innovative two-day careers workshop at McIntyre House.

The teams came up with some interesting designs but aviation and tourism lecturer See-Wing Law, who led the workshop, was as interested in how the students arrived at their finished structure as she was with the quality of the bridge.

“The task helps to gauge team-building and the way people react,” say See, who has worked widely in the aviation industry for Emirates, Qantas, Cathay Pacific and Easyjet. She wanted the students to discover more about themselves and assess their own strengths and weaknesses: “Do they dominate? Do they not speak? Are they innovative?”

See’s workshop, titled “Prepare for take-off: aviation career planning and coaching,” was attended by 36 students, including some undergraduates studying International Tourism Management. The student-led, highly interactive event was designed to “trigger the mind and soul, getting students to think about the right professional attitude needed throughout their careers.”

The activities were planned to encourage self-reflection and involved in-put from hired@UCB, the University’s careers, employability and enterprise service.

See, a UCB graduate and former Masters student, says: “The whole idea of this unique workshop came from my observation of UCB students and their professional behaviours. I through about how I could help them best to match their skills for industry and develop as individuals.”